


Persona 5: Painting Our Freedom

by ajovan



Category: Persona 5
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-09-15 04:21:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16926414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ajovan/pseuds/ajovan
Summary: Melody Nawaki has been shunned from her family since she was branded a criminal. Particularly dropped off at Shibuya, she is forced to live out her one year probation in a place she does not know. However, due to some strange occurrences happening in her life, Melody may realize that her family is closer than she thinks, especially if a certain someone from her past appears.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic on this site. I am still working out the quirks of this site. I would also add more tags as the story goes on. I would appreciate any feedback you would give. Thank you so much for reading.

_“You got a C on your test again!?”_

_“You were always a failure! Why do we even bother!?”_

_“Do you not understand that our reputation is at stake!?”_

A 6 year old girl ran out of the house in tears without even knowing her aunt running after her, yelling out her name. Running away from the yelling, the criticism, the anger, and the hurt. She didn’t know where she was going but she did know that she wanted to get away from there, no matter where her feet led her. The little girl didn’t stop running until she got to the park, a secluded area in the middle of Inoshira. She sat on one of the benches, catching her from breath. _Why can’t they understand?_ she thought. _I’m trying my best!_ The little girl wiped her eyes but more tears came. She didn’t even notice someone was beside her. “Excuse me. Are you alright?” The girl jumped out of her seat. She turned around to see a young boy, maybe a year older than her, with dark blue hair and grey eyes. He was wearing a green striped shirt with khakis and tennis shoes. She didn’t recognize him from this side of town. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. I saw you crying and wanted to make sure you were okay,” said the boy. The girl looked at him and decided he couldn’t be all bad. She wiped the rest of her tears, cleaned off her dress and smiled. “I’m fine. Thank you for asking,” said the girl. The boy did not looked convinced but did not bring it up. “Are you new here? I haven’t seen you before,” said the girl.

“Yes. I’m here with my sensei. He’s having an art exhibition here in town for the month,” said the boy.

“Really? I did hear something about that from my aunt. She loves art after all.” Then she noticed a sketchbook that the boy had. “Is that yours?”

“Ah, yes. I was working on some sketches when I saw you crying.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. My ideas for the sketches were not coming along after all.”

“Still…” The boy shook his head and smiled. “I’m Yusuke Kitagawa. What’s your name?”

“I’m Melody Nawaki. Nice to meet you, Kitagawa-kun.”

“Likewise, Nawaki-san. Do you want to go back to town? Your family must be worried about you.”

_My family doesn’t care about me,_ Melody thought bitterly. “Sure,” said Melody. They both walked back talking about art and the constellations, which Melody love most of all. “Can I look at your sketches?” asked Melody. Yusuke held his sketchbook tightly and shook his head. “I don’t like showing what I have until the final product. Call it artist instinct,” said Yusuke. Melody giggled. “You sound like my aunt. She does art herself and always hides her sketchbooks from me and my uncle,” said Melody. Yusuke laughed as well. By time they got back to town, it was dark and Melody’s aunt, Emma Nawaki, was waiting for them. “Melody, I was so worried. Where were you?” asked Emma, making sure the girl was not hurt.

“I’m sorry, Aunt Emma. I just…needed to escape,” said Melody. Emma’s face was mixed between relief, anger and understanding. Anger at her brother and his wife, relief that Melody is safe, and understanding about getting away. “Okay, just make sure you contact me or your uncle, okay?” said Emma.

“Yes, ma’am,” said Melody. Emma sighed, shaking her head. Ever since Melody’s parents kept talking about reputation, they were placing all responsibility on Melody, stressing out the little girl. She doesn’t know what to make of it. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t notice you. Are you lost?” said Emma.

“No ma’am. I was just sketching in the park when I met Nawaki-san, so I decided walk her back to town. My name is Yusuke Kitagawa,” said Yusuke.

“Oh, what a gentleman. Thank you for that, Kitagawa-kun. Melody, you caught a good one here.” Oh, no. Melody knows that teasing smirk. Blushing, Melody shook her head while Yusuke just looked confused. “Aunt Emma!” Emma just chuckled and poor Yusuke was getting more confused. “Yusuke!” Everyone turned around to see man in a shogun outfit walking their way. “Madarame-sensei!” Yusuke ran up to his sensei, leaving an astonished Emma and a confused Melody. “There you are. Sketching away, I see,” said Madarame.

“Yes, sensei. Oh, this is Nawaki-san and her aunt,” said Yusuke.

“Hello. I hope Yusuke haven’t caused any trouble for you.”

“Oh, no. He wasn’t at all,” said Emma, smiling widely and bouncing on her feet. Melody looked at the weirdly before turning her attention to Yusuke and Madarame.

“He actually helped me home,” said Melody.

“Oh, did he now? You’re turning into a gentleman, Yusuke,” said Madarame.

“I couldn’t ignore her. She was upset.” Madarame and Emma looked amused while Melody looked embarrassed, playing with the hem of her dress. “Well, we better head back soon. We don’t want to be late to the hotel,” said Madarame. Yusuke looked conflicted, like he was fighting with himself, until he nodded. He reached around his neck and took off a necklace. It was a crystalized water lily necklace. It was mixed with pink, yellow and white colors with a yellow stone in the middle. It was beautiful. “I want you to have this,” said Yusuke. Melody looked shocked and shook her head. “I can’t take this!” said Melody.

“I want you to. So when you feel sad again, you can look at this and feel happy again. It is made of a yellow jasper after all.” Melody was surprised while Madarame and Emma smiled knowingly. _He’s a good kid,_ thought Emma. Melody looked at the necklace then looked at Yusuke, blushing. “Are you sure?” asked Melody, shyly as she messed her fingers. He smiled and nodded, handing her the necklace. Melody took it gingerly and pressed over her heart. “Thank you, Kitagawa-kun,” Melody whispered.

“You are welcome,” said Yusuke, smiling. Melody looked away shyly, her face completely red. Emma had to hold her laughter. “I hope I’ll see you around some more this month.”

“I would like that,” said Melody. Yusuke smiled and Melody smiled back. “Alright, Yusuke, time to go,” said Madarame.

“Okay, sensei. Time for me to go. See you later,” said Yusuke, walking after Madarame.

“Bye,” said Melody, waving. Melody and Emma watched Yusuke and Madarame leave, heading toward the station. Emma turned to Melody, whose face was still red. “You know, if I had to guess, I say you have a crush on little Kitagawa-kun,” said Emma in a teasing tone. Melody’s face turned into a deeper red. “I don’t have a crush! I just met him,” said Melody. Emma chuckled, making Emma pout. “Okay, we better get you home,” said Emma. Melody nodded and put on the necklace Kitagawa-kun gave her. She hoped she would meet him again. Little did she know, that wish will come true, as a luminous blue butterfly flew over them as they walked home.


	2. Chapter 2

Melody woke up with a start before relaxing. She must have fell asleep on the train. Thinking back on it, it doesn’t surprise her that her family would blame her for the assault, which she didn’t do. The only people who stood up for her were Emma, her uncle, Tiro, her cousins, Jasmine and Kata and her grandparents. They tried everything to plead her case, but nobody listened, not even her parents. Melody sighed. Now’s not the time for moping. She’ll just have to deal with it. The female announcer caught her attention, saying they arrived in Shibuya. Melody sighed again and stepped off the train. Walking out of the station and into the city, she felt tense. Mostly looking at her phone for directions, she avoided contact with anybody. She was in an unfamiliar area after all, particularly dropped off. A red eyeball app popped up on her phone, surprising Melody.

_What a weird app. I didn’t download this_. She tapped on the app to see if it works but nothing happened. She was about to delete it when everybody froze around. _What’s going on? What’s happening?_ Melody turned around to see blue flames in front of her. The blue flames roared as wings and eerie smiling face appeared; her face. She blinked and the smiling face was gone along with everyone moving again. _What was that? That was strange._ She shook her head and looked at her phone. She deleted the app before making her way to Yongen-Jaya. Hopefully, it will be the last of it.

Melody followed the directions on her phone, leading her to Yongen-Jaya. She felt relief that it was a rural area, something that she was familiar with. “Okay, all I need to do is find Sakura-san’s residence. Hopefully, I can find it,” said Melody. She found the residence due to an impatient officer. She rang the doorbell but nobody answered. _This is the residence. Where is he?_ “Hm, it seems Sakura-san is not here.” Melody turned to see a mailman murmuring. “Oh, Sakura-san should be at his café at this time. I’ll just make my rounds till then. Now, next is…” _A café, huh?_ She did notice a small café somewhere down the street, so she headed there. The café was named Leblanc and it seemed pretty empty. Melody took a deep breath and stepped in the café. It was occupied with two elderly couple and man with a newspaper. The man heard the bell and saw her. “Ah, they did mention that that was today,” said the man. The elderly left money on the table and walked out. “Jeez, it doesn’t take an hour just to drink coffee.” Melody had to bite her lip so she wouldn’t laugh. “So you’re Melody Nawaki?” asked the man.

“Yes. Are you Sakura-san?” asked Melody.

“Yeah, the name’s Sojiro Sakura. I’m friends of your parents, essentially.” Sojiro took a closer look at her. With her long black and red unruly hair and wearing school clothes, Melody didn’t look like criminal to him. “Your room is this way. Follow me,” said Sojiro. Melody nodded and followed him up to the attic. It was not what she expected. “You look like you want to say something.”

“It’s…bigger than I expected,” Said Melody.

“It will be your job to clean it up.” Melody nodded, not wanting to argue. “Now I got the gist of your situation. You defended a woman from a man and then he charged you with assault, right? This is what you get for sticking your nose in other people’s business.” Melody just shrugged. She wasn’t going to agree with him. In her mind, she knew she did the right thing. Sojiro had an irritated look on his face but sighed. “The courts ordered you here to transfer, which your parents approved of. In other words, they got rid of you for being a pain in the ass.” Melody bit her lip. _Yeah, basically._ “It’s best you not talk about anything unnecessary. I am running a restaurant business after all.” Melody blocked everything out considering she knew already. Probation for one year, Shujin academy, all that jazz. Noticing that she wasn’t listening, Sojiro sighed and left, mentioning that he had a café to run. Melody sighed, looking at her “luggage”. Her parents really didn’t give a damn about her, did they? _I might as well get dress in more comfortable clothes and clean this “room” up._ She changed into a long white t-shirt with a black sweater she stole from her aunt, blue skirt, black leggings and brown boots. She started cleaning up by putting her “luggage” away and fixing the “bed”. By time she was finished, it was dark and she was tired. Sojiro walked in as she just finished. “I was hearing a lot of ruckus in here, but I didn’t know you were cleaning,” said Sojiro. He look around to a clean attic. “It looks pretty good. Although it is common sense to keep your room tidy.” Melody nodded, biting her lip again. “I’m about to close up. You better get to bed. I’m not taking care of you because you decide to stay up. Also, check your package. You may have something in there.” Sojiro walked away and Melody looked at her package on the desk. She sighed, thinking it was just a warning from her parents. When she opened it, she gasped. It was the necklace Kitagawa-kun gave her. Her parents took it away from her. How did she get it back? There was a note with the necklace.

 

Melody

I found your necklace within your mother’s worthless gems. How she took it from you I will never know. But it would serve as a good luck charm for the year to come. Good luck on your year.

Love, Aunty Emma and Uncle Tiro

P.S.: You can call us whenever. Here’s the number. 541-xxxx

Melody didn’t know she was crying until she saw a drop on her hand. She held the letter to her and smiled. _At least I have someone backing me up._ She wiped her eyes and put on the necklace before changing her clothes for the night. She got into bed and messed with her phone for a bit. _It’s going to be a long year._ She heard a beep and noticed the red eye app again. She thought she deleted it before. _Well, time to delete it again._ After she deleted it again, she felt tired. Giving a short prayer to her necklace, she fell asleep. _I hope things will be alright soon._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like it. The next chapter will be up soon. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter. I didn't want to drag it out from this point. I hope you enjoy.

Melody opened her eyes to a blue hue. She got up with a start, realizing that she was in a cell of some sort. She looked down at herself and saw she was wearing black and white striped clothes and chains. _What’s going on here? Where am I?_ Her internal panic was interrupted when she heard chuckling. She turned around to see two little girls in blue uniforms staring at her. Each one of them had similar gold eyes, one of each is covered by an eye patch. They had white hair, one in buns and the other in a ponytail. She tried to step forward but she felt a heaviness on her ankle. A ball in chain. _Great, just my luck._ She walked forward and grabbed the bars, looking through them to see an eerie smiling man in front of her. “Trickster, welcome to my Velvet Room,” said the man. _Velvet Room?_ _Trickster?_ “So you finally came to, Inmate,” said the girl with the buns.

“The current you is still asleep. You are experiencing this in a dream,” said the girl with the ponytail. _I’m still dreaming? How?_

“Stand up straight! You’re in the presence of our master!” yelled the girl with the buns. Melody gritted her teeth and looked at the man. “Welcome, I am delighted to make your acquaintance. This room exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a room that only those who are bound by a ‘contract’ may enter,” said the man. _“Contract?” What is he talking about?_ “I am Igor, the master of this place. Remember it well.” Melody just sneered at him. She did not like that condescending tone of his. “I have an important matter to discuss with you. It involves your life as well.” _My life is involved. Oh hell no!_ “Let me out of here!” yelled Melody, rattling the bars. She felt a shock on her hand and jumped back holding her hand. “Know your place, Inmate! Who do you think you’re talking to!?” yelled the girl with the buns.

“My name is not inmate, you twerp. Let me out!”

“Still, this is a surprise,” said Igor. _He completely ignored me._ “This state of this room reflects the state of your own heart. To think a prison would appear as such.” _Oh fuck off._ Melody walked back to the bars and glared at Igor. “You truly are a ‘prisoner’ of fate. In the future, there is no mistake that ruin awaits you.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? Do you expect to me to believe this shit!?” yelled Melody.

“Ha ha, worry not. There is a means to oppose such a fate. You must be ‘rehabilitated’. Rehabilitated toward freedom…That is your only means to avoid ruin…Do you have the resolve to challenge the distortion of the world?” _Rehabilitation? Ruin? Distortion?_ “What the hell are you talking about?” said Melody.

“You didn’t decline, hm? Very well, that is enough.” _Stop avoiding my questions, you giant-nosed dickbag!!_ “Allow me to observe the path of your rehabilitation.” The girls in blue turned around to face her. “Ah, pardon me for not introducing the others. To your right is Caroline; to your left, Justine. They serve as wardens here.”

“Hmph, try and struggle as hard as you like,” said Caroline.

“The duty of wardens is to protect inmates. We are also your collaborators. …That is, if you remain obedient,” said Justine. _Obedient, my ass._ Melody just glared at the girls who glared back at her. “I shall explain the roles of these two at another occasion,” said Igor. Caroline and Justine faced forward toward Igor. “Now then, it seems the night is waning…It is almost time.” _Time? Time for what?_ “Take your time to slowly come to understand this place. We will surely meet again, eventually…” The bells rang making Melody jump and look around. “What is happening?” Melody asked.

“Time’s up. Now hurry up and go back to sleep,” said Caroline.

“Wait!” Melody sat up and realized she was back in her own bed. _What the hell was that?_ She shook her head and groaned. Looking out the window, it was morning. Melody sighed and started to get ready for her new school. _I really need to stop staying up late._

**Author's Note:**

> How was it? Again, any feedback would help me greatly.


End file.
